LeedsBID reflects on a third year of improvements and events in the city centre

The not-for-profit organisation, established three years ago to improve the city and put it on the map, gave an end of year review to its levy payers and partners at an event hosted by Leeds College of Music yesterday, outlining highlights from the 2017/18 period.

With £2.5m worth of funds, put up by 984 levy payers out of the 4,500 businesses in the LS1 postcode, LeedsBID has seen the return of Leeds International Festival, the Radio Awards and the Leeds Indie Food and Eat Leeds events.

On a more day to day basis, city workers and visitors were able to soak up the long summer with deck chairs put out around the city in Wellington Place and Sovereign Square for lunch breaks and tree lights in Park Square for balmy summer evenings.

Andrew Cooper, chief executive of LeedsBID said: “We saw the importance of animating these spaces to bring people outside and experience the city centre.”

He singled out the Welcome Ambassadors, Ranger teams which keep the streets clean and the Evening Ambassadors, which were introduced in the last 12 months, for praise adding “It is about bringing all these elements together for everyone’s benefit.”

This year also saw the formation of Leeds Boost with Google trainer Simon McCaskill.

So far it has worked with 317 businesses in Leeds ( including Leeds Beckett University and the Double Tree Hilton Hotel) and more than 1,000 people to help businesses with their online and digital services and solutions to work more efficiently such as getting five days worth of work into four.

Mr Cooper added: “I am looking forward to projects coming forward that were ideas 18 months ago.”